Do you ever feel your resume that you sent out to a recruiter or potential employer just goes into a black hole? You wait patiently for an email response or a phone call with good news of how much they can’t wait to bring you onsite for an interview. Don’t hold your breath for that email or phone call because most of the times you will not hear back from them at all.

There is no way to know if your resume has been read. What you can do is ensure that it is reviewed. One of the best ways to ensure that someone looks at your resume is to follow up with them. Following up after sending your resume is a critical step that you should not overlook. Your chance of landing a job quickly will improve dramatically by following-up.

First of all, you need to have a way to keep a record of all your resume submissions otherwise it will be out of control. You have to be on top of the situation if you have submitted your resume to multiple places. So it is a good idea to have a system to monitor and track your job search progress. I use a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet contains all of the usual information including when I sent my resume and when I should follow up.

If you sent your resume today, you can follow-up with them the next day or up to a week later. This is a judgment call and you need to decide how many days are reasonable and appropriate. Every situation will be different so use your common sense. Also if the job posting clearly states to not call or email, you should respect their wish. In this situation, you have no choice but to wait for them to get back to you.

You can follow-up with an email, but I prefer calling the person directly assuming you have a contact at that place. Be aware that some places don’t like phone calls so you need to decide if this is appropriate. When I call, I want to speak to a person and not go into their voicemail. If the person is not there, I will call back at different times of the day. Or I will try to speak to a different person who can help me.

Once you get the right person on the phone, tell them briefly that you sent your resume on this date and you are calling to follow-up. The reason you are calling is to make sure that they received your resume. Assuming they have your resume, you can tell them that you are interested in the job and want to know what the next steps will be. You can also use this opportunity to highlight a few reasons why you are the right person for the job. This is your chance to distinguish yourself from other candidates who did not take the time to follow-up.

In conclusion, it is very important that you follow-up after submitting your resume. Following up will show the recruiter or employer that you are interested in the job. You will be surprised how few job seekers take this very important step. If you do it, you will stand out from the crowd. You will also be amazed at the results you can get by the simple act of following up.